Nat's Mom and Dad gave me this LIFX bulb that is one of a handful of smart bulbs that work directly with our Google Home and don't require a Smarthome bridge/hub. That has a lot of appeal to me. You can find the details of Google Assistant/Home + LIFX here on the LIFX landing page specifically for Google Home. They show you a bunch of the commands.

I have just one of these bulbs and they don't look awesome in some of our fixtures (we have lots of either glass shades or 'shine down' fixtures where you can see the bulbs. So, it has been relegated to a lamp in our family room. I think I'll get more of these, but they're only going to be good for us in certain spots like lamps and - if they'll work - maybe even cans in the ceiling?

But, the "Hey Google" functionality - while nice - turns out isn't the thing that I use the most and have come to like. Nope. What is actually really nice is the ability to set the color of these. And, to be honest, after the first hour or so of playing around with different colors, we've come to settle on a warm, almost pinkish tone. They call it "2500 k Ultra Warm - 100%". You can see it in the color wheel in the app below.

It casts a wonderful warm light that is perfect in the winter as the room grows dark. I've also glommed on to the day/night dawn/dusk scheduling part of the app. It is like a smart timer.

I've added this post to my [connected home] tag in the archives, where you can also find my initial Google Home post from November of 2016. We've since upgraded our [connected home] with a few other things like Nest tools, a bunch of Google Home Minis and even a Google Home Max. I'll try to post a few things about those new tools in the coming weeks. The kids are in love with the "Hey Google...broadcast" thing. And I'm really happy with the Google Home Max serving as our main speaker in the kitchen for music.

Earlier this winter, I wrote about the old Lou Malnati's menu and mentioned that as I was waiting around for my pie to finish up, I spied an old Chicago Tribune article posted on the wall that included the original Lou Malnati's Italian Salad Dressing Recipe. The Tribune reporter called it "prized". We were set to host a little pizza party over the weekend, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Here's the article as seen through my mobile phone's camera.
I'm not a wine drinker, so the fact that the recipe called for Burgundy wine didn't strike me as odd. I went shopping at Angelo Caputos in Addison - a really incredible shopping experience - and when I got to the wine section I found Burgundy wine was carried ONLY in those HUGE jugs. And they were dirt cheap. The only issue is that needed just 4 ounces. We ended up with a whole-lotta-wine that Nat won't drink.

I've taken the recipe and modified it a bit by eliminating the percentages (60…

Last week, I was in the Elmhurst Lou Malnati's picking up a pie and noticed that they're NOW selling a bottled version of their salad dressing they've called "Lou Malnati's Sweet Vinaigrette". That's the second consumer packaged good they have in their take-out shops - with the first being Lou Malnati's Tomatoes. They sell it in 16 oz jars.

I didn't catch a price, but I did catch a photo of the ingredient list.
Hmmm...comparing that to the Lou Malnati's salad dressing recipe, it seems that there are a few differences. First, the bottled dressing uses corn oil (listed first) and olive oil (listed way down), while the recipe posted in the Tribune back 40+ years uses olive oil. The bottled dressing also has mustard, "natural flavors" and a few different preservat…

I'm Jake Parrillo. This is my website.

I'm Jake Parrillo and I'm using this space here on the web as a journal of sorts. I'm a 39 year old father of three (2 beautiful girls and one bouncing baby boy).

We live out in Downers Grove - in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. I work at Edelman, am an Xoogler and a former Village Trustee. (Yes! I was elected to office 3X!?!) I'm a pizza fanatic, Disney Dad, gardener, and Lionel O-Gauge fanboy. I (sometimes) post links and videos over at at www.parrillo.info.